Zack & Jenna
by moonswirl
Summary: This is the sequel to my DA/Roswell crossover 'A part of something bigger'... i'd put it in the DA section, but I realized I should put it here instead, so... enjoy!
1. Zack and Jenna

ZACK & JENNA, or the legacy of Manticore  
Sequel to 'A part of something bigger'  
  
  
November 4th 2024, near Roswell, New Mexico  
  
"So how's Sarah handling becoming an aunt?" asked Logan Cale as he turned to his father-in-law, Max Evans. It was weird to think of him as such, when there wasn't that much of an age difference. They were on their way back to Roswell, along with Michael Guerin, Alex Whitman and Kyle Valenti. They had been thrown out of Max's home, when their wives had insisted they couldn't stay. They were having a baby shower for Logan's wife, Max. They all found it ridiculous that they'd waited until she was just about ready to deliver, but found it pointless to argue with them. So they'd went on a slight road trip...  
  
  
"Oh, she's really excited, she won't stop talking about it," said Max, thinking back to just that morning, when his 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, was talking about how she would paint their nails just like Lisa had done for her. They had then explained that only one of the twins was a girl. She took it in stride and said that she would paint the girl's nails. Logan himself had witnessed the exchange as they'd been staying with Max and his wife Liz, who was his wife's mother, and Sarah. Even if Max wasn't his real daughter, Max had taken her in just as if she had been. And so they'd been living there for the past three months.  
  
  
There was a phone ring and Logan reached inside his coat pocket to take out his cell phone. "Hello?"  
  
"Logan?" came the voice of his 'aunt', Isabel Evans.  
  
"Hey, we're on our way back now, so I hope we're not..." started Logan, but was interrupted.  
  
"Logan, she's in labor."  
  
"What?" he asked, his voice rising just a bit in panic.  
  
"What's wrong?" asked Kyle from the back.  
  
"It's Isabel, she says that Max just went into labor." Not sure of what to do, Max pulled the car over to the side of the road. "When did this start?" asked Logan.  
  
"About an hour ago. We weren't sure if it was for real at first..." explained Isabel, almost forced to yell so that Logan would hear her over the sounds of Max screaming in the background.  
  
  
"Alright, well... we'll be there as soon as possible," said Logan as Max started up the car again.  
  
"Okay, hurry!" said Isabel.  
  
"Tell her I love her."  
  
"I will." He closed the phone and put it back in his pocket. "Come on! Faster!" said Logan.  
  
"If we go too fast, we might be stopped and then it will be very long before we get there."  
  
"I have a feeling that's pretty much what's gonna happen," said Alex as he pointed ahead.  
  
"Oh great..." said Michael as he saw as well. There was a roadblock just ahead.  
  
"No, no, no..." started Logan.  
  
"Hold on, I'll go see what's going on," said Max.  
  
  
He got out of the car and went to talk to someone near the front to find out what was happening. He came back about two minutes later.  
  
"So?" asked Logan.  
  
"Looks like we're gonna be here for a while. There was an accident up there, a truck and two cars... We have to wait until they've cleaned out the road. I'm sorry." Logan was silent for a minute, then took the phone out again. He dialed and waited.  
  
"Hello?" came Isabel's voice.  
  
"Hey, it's me. We have a problem."  
  
"What problem?"  
  
"There's a road block and it looks like it's gonna take a while."  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"I wish I were. How's she doing?"  
  
Before she could answer, Logan heard Max in the back, yelling. "PUNCH ME! JUST PUNCH ME! PLEASE!" Logan couldn't help grinning.  
  
"We'll call when we can get through."  
  
*  
  
Ten hours later, still at the block  
  
All of them had fallen asleep except Logan. He kept his eyes in front, waiting impatiently for the way to clear. They should have been through hours ago, but there was another problem, so they were still waiting. He just hoped he wouldn't miss the births. He wanted to be there. Suddenly, he saw a man come to the front of the line and remove the barriers.  
  
"Hey! It's open!" he said as he shook Max awake.  
  
"What?" he asked, still asleep.  
  
"Come on, grandpa, let's go!" That woke him up. He started the car.  
  
"I told you not to call me that." Logan took the phone once again.  
  
  
"Hello?" This time it was Maria.  
  
"Hey, it's me. It's finally open, so we're on our way. How's it coming?" he asked.  
  
"You better hurry up, we're almost there."  
  
"Is she okay?"  
  
"Yeah she's fine... she sort of... broke Liz's fingers..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well she was squeezing her hand and..."  
  
"Oh boy..."  
  
"Hey, it's okay, Tess fixed it."  
  
"Oh, good..."  
  
"Just hurry, alright?"  
  
"We'll get there as soon as we can." He closed the phone. "Move it."  
  
*  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Max and Liz's home  
  
"Oh no, not again!" said Max with panic in her voice. Her eyes snapped shut, her whole face was shutting down as she held on to whatever she could find. She had broken quite a few things by then, and no one dared take her hand.  
  
"It's okay, honey, you can do it, you're almost there!" encouraged Liz.  
  
"I don't want to do this anymore!" she yelled.  
  
"Sorry, you don't have a choice." She was about to scream again, they could see it.  
  
"Don't swear!"  
  
"TOMATO!" she screamed.  
  
"Tomato?" asked Maria.  
  
When she calmed down a bit, she managed to explain, "You told me not to swear..."  
  
  
Out front, the guys arrived, quickly jumping out of the car and running through the door. "Hello?" called Logan. Tess came running to them.  
  
"Come on, I have a feeling something's about to happen. He followed her in as the others were greeted by the kids.  
  
"Daddy! Daddy!" called Sarah as she ran right into his arms.  
  
"Hey there!"  
  
"I'm gonna be an aunt!" she said joyfully.  
  
"I know," said Max with a smile.  
  
  
Just then, they heard a piercing scream from the room, followed by smaller cries and cheering. They all turned to the door. Michael walked up to Max. "Congratulations... grandpa," he said with a grin.  
  
"Stop that." About a minute later, Logan came into the living room, carrying the first baby.  
  
"Yay!" said Sarah as she clapped her hands together, getting agitated. Logan finally looked away from the child, a bright smile on his face.  
  
"I'd like you to meet my son." The guys came up, congratulating him and looking down at the boy.  
  
  
"LOGAN GET IN HERE!" they heard Max yell.  
  
"Excuse me," he said as he returned to the room. Five minutes passed and the same thing happened as before. Logan returned a minute later with a different baby in his arms. "And meet my daughter." His smile had by then grown so much they were afraid his face would break.  
  
*  
  
Fifteen minutes later  
  
"Alright, you can come in now," said Isabel as she went to see the guys in the living room. The kids ran in before any of them had time to get up. They'd been instructed not to make a lot of noise and they were careful to do so.  
  
"Hi," said Max, "Sarah, come over here." The girl ran up and Logan lifted her up on the bed. She looked down at the two babies in Max's arms.  
  
"I am an aunt?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, you are," said Max with a smile.  
  
"What are they called?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," said Liz, "You haven't told us what you'd come up with."  
  
  
"Well... I wanted to name them after two of my brothers and sisters back at Manticore..." started Max.  
  
"But we knew we couldn't do that because it could be too obvious in case there's still people out there..." continued Logan, leaving the last part to the adults' understanding.  
  
"So we kept one, and found something relatively similar for the other," he explained. "Everyone, meet Zack and Jenna." All smiled and Max handed Liz a tissue. Sarah looked down to the two newborns once more.  
  
"Hello, Zack and Jenna!" she greeted quietly.  
  
*  
  
Two weeks later  
  
"Hey guys, check this out!" called Jack as he led their attention to the corner, where Zack and Jenna lay in the crib that had been Sarah's not too long ago. "Zack..." he called to the boy. He quickly turned his head and looked right to Jack. Before letting them react, he did it again. "Jenna..." he said, this time. The girl did the same as her brother. Max got up and approached her children. When they saw her come, they almost immediately let her know they'd seen her, which brought a smile to her face. She loved them so much... and she hoped more than anything that they would be all right when the four of them returned to Seattle in two weeks...  



	2. Growth

Two more weeks later  
  
Max and Logan stepped off the elevator, each carrying one of the children. It felt good to be back home after four months. They could hardly believe it had been a month since their son and daughter had been born. Already, each displayed some personality... Zack, with his blonde hair was strangely enough, a lot like his namesake, which made Max and Logan wonder if maybe they should worry... Jenna already had her mother's looks. She would also only be fully quiet when in the arms of her mother or father.  
  
  
Logan turned the key in the door and stepped back to let Max and Jenna through. She'd barely set foot inside when she sensed a presence. "Logan... there's someone here..." she said, trying to stay calm.  
  
"Are you sure?" he asked, quickly looking down to Zack.  
  
"Yes, I..."  
  
"Surprise!" came the sound of two voices from up ahead. They looked up and were relieved to find Bling and Original Cindy. Even though Logan didn't really need him anymore now that he'd started walking again, he'd become like his best friend. At the loud greeting, Zack and Jenna let out one small cry and batted their arms around, but didn't shed one tear...  
  
  
"Don't scare us like that!" said Max as she set down her bag and Jenna's carrier, taking the girl in her arms as she walked over to her friend and hugged her.  
  
"Let me see this girl," she said, before Max handed her Jenna. She moved around a bit, and eventually settled in Cindy's arms.  
  
"She likes you already."  
  
"Hey there, lil' boo," she said, taking her tiny hand and shaking it gently. Max grinned at the sight of her friend mesmerized by her daughter.  
  
  
Bling walked over to Logan and shook his hand. "Hey, congratulations," he said.  
  
"Thank you," said Logan as he did as Max had done and picked up his son.  
  
"Can I hold him?"  
  
"Of course," Logan said as he handed him over. Zack looked straight up into the man's eyes.  
  
"Look at you," said Bling, "You're a little tough guy, aren't you." He smiled when the boy threw his arm around at his comment.  
  
"Maybe in a little while you'll be training him, too... well, not in the same way, but you know what I mean," said Logan with a grin.  
  
"Maybe," said Bling.  
  
*  
  
Two months later  
  
Logan sat at his desk, looking through some papers, when he heard something that made him drop all that he was holding. Next to him, Zack sat in his carrier, playing with his toes as he usually did, but this time, he turned to his father. "Da..." he started. Logan turned to him in shock. "Da..." he said again. Logan took the boy's hand and he turned to him. "Dada!" he exclaimed joyfully. He could hardly believe it. He'd said it. He ran off to find Max.  
  
  
In the other room, Max sat on the bed, with Jenna lying in front of her. She waved a small teddy bear around and Jenna attempted to catch it. She pulled back the bear and smiled down at her. "Mama!" Jenna responded. Max dropped the bear and her eyes grew wide.  
  
"Jenna..."  
  
"Mama!" said the girl once again. Max got up from the bed to go tell Logan.  
  
  
The two nearly ran into each other. "He said 'Dada'!" exclaimed Logan, just as Max spoke as well.  
  
"She said 'Mama'!"  
  
"What?" both said. Each ran into the other room to see their other child.  
  
"Mama!" exclaimed Zack when he saw her.  
  
"Dada!" said Jenna when Logan walked up to her. The two adults ran back to each other and hugged as they both talked at the same time.  
  
*  
  
One month later  
  
"I can't find Zack!" exclaimed Max as she ran up to Logan.  
  
"I can't find Jenna!" he said at that time, as he ran to her as well. "Alright, relax, we'll just..." started Logan, trying to calm her, when they heard two distinct small giggles. They followed the sound to find the kids crawling through the living room.  
  
"Hey!" said Max as she walked over to them.  
  
"Mama!" they chanted cheerfully as they saw her.  
  
"Oh look at you two," she said as she crouched in front of them.  
  
*  
  
Four months later  
  
Logan walked into the penthouse, carrying two bags of food. "Anybody home?" he called. He set the bags down and turned when he heard slow footsteps. "Hey, they didn't have any..." he started, then stopped when he saw who had walked in. Right in front of him, slowly but surely, Zack and Jenna trotted across the room.  
  
"Dada, look!" said Zack.  
  
"Walk!" said Jenna. Logan grinned as they kept on going.  
  
  
Max walked in then, from where the two had come. "Incredible, uh?" she said. But her voice didn't seem as happy as he would have anticipated.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Just look at them. They're eight months old. They can talk enough to make short sentences and now... they're walking... I've passed that on to them?" she said, a tear forming in the corner of her left eye. Logan walked up to her, careful not to make the kids fall.  
  
  
"I know this is scary and I know what you're probably thinking right now... but you can't do that to yourself. You can't think like that... you'll only end up hurting yourself... and them. So they're walking and talking already. It's not the end of the world... in fact you should be proud of them."  
  
"I am proud. They're my children, of course I'm proud of them. But that's not the point."  
  
"Max, you need to forget Manticore... move on. These two need you now," he said, turning to the kids, who stood watching their parents. "Right?" he asked them.  
  
"Yeah!" the two said with a nod. Max laughed slowly.  
  
"Fine then..."  
  
*  
  
November 5th 2026, Seattle, Washington  
  
"Logan, make sure we put enough chairs! Bling, check the food! Cindy, go see if the kids are still dressed and their hair is okay!" said Max as she moved around the penthouse. Just then the kids ran past her. Cindy turned her head to see them go by.  
  
"They're good," she reported. Max crouched down and the kids stopped before her.  
  
"You guys behave today, okay?" she said, as she made sure herself that everything was in place.  
  
"Gramma coming?" asked Jenna.  
  
"Yes she is."  
  
"Everybody coming?" asked Zack.  
  
"Yes they are."  
  
  
They'd been told about them for so long, they couldn't wait. Max could barely stand in place. This would be the first time they saw them since they were one month old. With the sector police and the likes, visiting wasn't a thing to do frequently, which they all regretted deeply. She wanted them to see how Zack had his father's eyes. And how Jenna looked just like her mom. They hadn't even been able to send pictures. They could have, but Max was still kind of scared.  
  
  
The buzzer from the intercom was heard. Max took one more look around and walked to it. "Hello?" she said.  
  
"Hi honey," she heard her mom say. She let them in. She began to pace around the door as she waited for them to get up. When she thought she heard a 'ping!' she looked to Logan.  
  
"Was that the elevator?" Before he could say anything, the doorbell rang. Max took one last check, a deep breath, and she opened the door.  
  
  
"Mom!" she said as her mother hugged her.  
  
"Hi sweetie, how are you?"  
  
"Good, you?"  
  
"Good too." She greeted everyone as they entered. Once again, the kids had grown since she last saw them. Jack, who was now 16, was turning into a very handsome guy. Ricky, at 15, looked more and more like his father, except for his smile, which was still his mother's. Lisa, now 14, was as well becoming more and more gorgeous. Anna, even though she was only 11, was still the spitting image of her mother. And Sarah was as energetic at 5 years old as she was at 3. When she saw Max, she ran into her arms.  
  
"Hey there little sister! What's up?"  
  
"I wanna see my... niece and nephew," she said, saying the words slowly to pronounce them right.  
  
  
Max took the group into the living room, where Bling and Cindy stood talking. "Everyone, you remember Bling and Original Cindy," said Max, "Bling, Original Cindy, you remember everyone." They had met during the week before they'd returned to Roswell about seven years before. All said their 'hello's. "Where are they?" she asked Cindy.  
  
"Lil' Boo ran off, the boys followed," she explained.  
  
  
They heard a giggle. Seconds later, Jenna ran in, followed by Zack, then Logan. All three stopped when they saw the group of newcomers. "Hi everyone," said Logan. Zack and Jenna looked to their mother. Max signaled for Liz to step forward.  
  
"Look, it's Gramma!" she said. They observed her for two seconds, before running into her arms. When they pulled back, Liz looked at them. They'd grown so much.  
  
"Hello," she said, unable to say anything else.  



	3. At five...

Three years later  
  
Logan, Zack and Jenna walked into the park. "So what do you two wanna do?" Logan asked the children.  
  
"I wanna go play in the monkey bars!" said Jenna, pointing to the bars at the other end of the park.  
  
"Me too!" said Zack.  
  
"Alright," said Logan as he sat on a bench, "But we can't stay long, Mom's waiting for us for lunch, remember?"  
  
"Okay!" said the kids before running off.  
  
  
Logan looked around the park distractedly until something registered in his mind. He snapped his head back to see the kids running toward the monkey bars. But there was something very wrong with the image... they were going much too fast... His eyes went wide when the two leaped on the bars, from what he estimated to be a good two feet distance, up nearly to the top. They moved through the bars in record time and no appearance of exhaustion when they jumped down to the ground. He knew what was happening somehow, but didn't want to admit it to himself. Mostly, he was afraid to tell Max about it.  
  
  
He put the thoughts aside when the kids ran back to him a few minutes later, after a few more turns across the bars. "Daddy, did you see?" asked Jenna excitedly.  
  
"Yes, very good," said Logan, smiling to his daughter as he hid the concern from his face. "How long have you been doing things like that?"  
  
"I don't know, we just could," said Zack.  
  
"Promise me you won't tell your mom, okay?"  
  
"Why?" they asked.  
  
"I'll tell you later." The two looked at each other, puzzled by their father's demand.  
  
*  
  
Later that day  
  
The kids were taking their bath, they could do it themselves as they'd told their parents, so Logan decided he needed to tell Max about the afternoon's events. He didn't want to, but he didn't have much of a choice. She was picking up the toys on the living room floor when he walked up to her. "Max..." She stood up and turned to him. "We need to talk."  
  
"Something wrong?" she asked with concern. He indicated the couch so she would sit. That worried her even more but she did it anyway, soon joined by him. "Logan tell me... you're scaring me."  
  
  
"This morning I was out with the kids, as you know. We stopped by the park on the way back..." He looked up at her and saw she was listening to him completely. He took a deep breath and continued. He told her how they had ran extremely fast, the leap on the monkey bars, and their ease at crossing them. He could see her breathing speed up and a few tears ran down her cheeks. She looked up, a bit of panic in her face, when she heard them laughing in the bathroom, followed by the sound of water splashing.  
  
*  
  
About an hour later  
  
Zack and Jenna had finished taking their bath, their hair clean and untangled, still a bit wet. They had gotten ready for bed and went to get their mom. She went with them in their room, as she did every other night. They climbed into their beds, which were set side by side. They noticed their mom was acting strange. She was usually so cheerful at this time, but now there was barely any emotion on her face. Except sadness.  
  
  
"Momma, what's wrong?" asked Zack. She placed a chair between the two beds and sat.  
  
"I want to talk to you about this morning, what happened in the park."  
  
"Daddy told you?" asked Jenna.  
  
"Yes," she said, then, "See, I can do things like that too... I have been most of my life, back when I was your age and beyond that... Remember how I told you about my friends..."  
  
"Your brothers and sisters?" asked Zack.  
  
"Yes. We were all trained to... develop these skills and others," she said, not adding the rest of the story the way it had happened. They couldn't handle that yet.  
  
  
"What's important, is that you can't tell anyone about what you can do... except for the ones we tell you it's okay to... like Cindy and Bling." He had been told Max's secret back when the twins had begun to walk, and he'd been nothing but helpful since.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because, Jenna, there are some people out there... mean people, who would try to hurt you if they knew about this." The kids thought for a second, then nodded. "Alright, now go to sleep, we'll talk more in the morning if you want to." She placed the chair back in the corner.  
  
  
She walked back to the beds and tucked in her children, who were almost asleep already. She gave them a good night kiss and left the room, closing the light and door on the way. Once outside, she took a deep breath, then headed to her room slowly. She lied down, still in her regular clothes. She remained silent for a few seconds, staring at the wall. But soon, she felt tears run down her cheeks. All those memories she'd buried deep inside her were finally resurfacing. Brin... Zack... Jondy... Tinga... all of them... She forced herself to stop crying, changed into nightclothes and went to sleep.  
  
*  
  
The next morning  
  
Max sat at the kitchen table, playing with her breakfast. Logan walked in. "Good morning," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. She barely noticed.  
  
"Hi," she said.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"I'm fine," she said with a forced smile. At that moment, they were joined by Zack and Jenna. They sat side by side, across from their parents.  
  
  
"Go on!" whispered Jenna.  
  
"I am!" Zack whispered back. Logan cleared his throat and they both looked up.  
  
"Morning! What's up?" Zack took another look at Jenna, then sat up.  
  
"Well, last night, after Mom left the room, we started talking about what you'd said," Zack started, looking to Max.  
  
"We've given it a lot of thought," continued Jenna.  
  
"We want to be trained... to use our... gifts."  
  
  
Max snapped back into reality. "No! No... no... out of the question," she said, shaking her head.  
  
"Mom..." said Jenna.  
  
"I'm not gonna let this happen to you..." she insisted.  
  
"Mom, you've said so yourself, there are bad people out there who might want to hurt us... but if we were trained, we could defend ourselves..." explained Zack.  
  
"... be prepared..." continued Jenna.  
  
"... and not defenseless." The two had developed an ability to finish each other's sentences, and right then, both were completely serious.  
  
  
"They're right," said Logan. Max looked to him. "I know that we haven't heard anything for a very long time... but we still need to be careful... we never know..."  
  
"Logan..."   
  
"Trust me on this," he said, taking her hand. She looked to the three of them, thinking hard about her response. Finally she sighed.  
  
"I'll call Bling later, we'll start whenever you'd like."  



	4. At ten...

Five years later  
  
Max stood by the door, watching Zack and Jenna, now 10, work on their daily training routine with Bling. At first, Bling had the upper hand over them, but soon enough, they got stronger and stronger, and now they were the ones with the upper hand. As she watched them, she couldn't help thinking back to when she was in Manticore, going through her training.  
  
  
She remembered nights when she, or Zack, would comfort the other X5 kids after a hard day. Like the time, about a year before the escape, when Brin had gotten in trouble for not paying attention. She was forced to run ten laps around the base. That night, she literally fell into bed, her entire body sore. From her bed, Max had seen her crying silently. She'd gotten up and carefully made her way to her.  
  
  
"Brin? You okay?" she'd asked the girl in a whisper.  
  
"It hurts, Max," she'd answered, still crying.  
  
"I know," said Max, then, "I'll be right back." She'd gone to the bathroom and retrieved a few towels, getting them wet, but twisting the extra water out. She'd went back to Brin and put them where it hurt the most. Soon, Brin had fallen asleep. In the morning, the towels were gone, she must have put them back. Without the guards noticing, Brin had smiled to her.  
  
"Thank you," she'd mouthed. Max had nodded in response.  
  
  
She came back to reality, just in time to see Jenna flip Bling over unto the ground. Zack stood to the side, applauding his sister. She smiled and helped the man up.  
  
"Very good," said Bling, slightly out of breath.  
  
"You okay?" she asked him.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he sat down.  
  
"Is it my turn yet?" asked Zack.  
  
"Gimme a minute, okay?"  
  
"Sure!" he said as he walked up to Jenna.  
  
  
"That was great!"  
  
"Thank you. I can't wait for our lessons this afternoon. Dad said he had a special subject." The two were home schooled, since they figured it might not be such a good idea to put them in a public school. It wasn't much surprise to either Max or Logan that the two were very quick learners. As much as it scared Max that they were becoming almost as good as any Manticore soldiers. Only they had the bonus of no seizures.  
  
*  
  
Later that day  
  
The kids were having their daily lessons with Logan, so Max did what she did most of the time in those occasions. She sat by the window, reminiscing about her childhood. Somehow, the more she tried to put the thoughts aside, the more they bombarded her.  
  
  
Zack... if he knew there was a young boy out there with his name... because of him... she wondered how he would react. He'd always been a bit... tough. Always serious, almost never took time to do something fun. When he did, it was always under the pretext of making sure the others wouldn't do something stupid. She remembered, when they'd picked names... he'd rejected the idea at first, but they could tell he wanted it too.  
  
  
She'd almost escaped with Jondy, they were so close, and then she fell through the ice. After that, Jondy must have ran off, trying to get herself out. It was understandable in a way. She wondered where she was now. She had so much to tell her. When they were little, she was like her 'confidant', a living diary, someone she could tell everything and anything about how she felt...  
  
  
She wished she could tell her how she'd found her mom. She wanted to tell her how their moms had been friends while they were in Manticore. But that would mean telling her... her mother was dead. If the moment came, she didn't know that she could do that to her. She didn't deserve such pain. She was a wonderful person... even though she hadn't spoken to her in... 25 years. That was so strange to her... a quarter of a century... since she'd seen her or spoken to her... But there was no doubt in Max's mind... She would still be the same sweet person... the reason she'd named her daughter after her... even though she didn't bear her actual name, that was where it had come from.  
  
  
She remembered the first time she'd felt like there was a group within the X5s... ones that would look out for each other. All of them did, but most were too busy with the 'mission' to do anything else. Twelve of them had become a group... and even though there were twelve to escape Manticore in 2009, only nine had made it out from their group.  
  
  
It was about three years before the escape. Max, Zack, Jondy, Tinga, Brin, Ben, Krit, Syl, Jace, Eva, Jack and Zane, along with the other X5s were in their beds. None of them really required sleep, but it was mandatory, so they at least pretended to. Ben was doing his regular routine of reviewing what he'd learned during the day, when he started feeling strange. He looked down to his hand and saw that it was shaking. Soon his whole body was shaking violently.  
  
  
He let out a small sound. Eleven of the X5s got up from their beds, the others not even looking. They went to see him. "Ben? What's wrong?" asked Syl.  
  
"I... don't... know," he'd managed to let out.  
  
"Maybe we should get someone," suggested Krit.  
  
"What are they gonna do to him?" asked Jace.  
  
"Everyone go back to bed. Max, help me get him out there," ordered Zack. The others obeyed. Max and Zack helped Ben up and across the room to outside the door.  
  
  
They were immediately spotted by the guards. "Return to your beds immediately," the first one to reach them had said.  
  
"He's sick," informed Zack.  
  
"Go back in there, we'll take care of it," said the guard as he picked up Ben and walked away. Zack and Max stood there for a few seconds, but finally, they went back in.  
  
  
When they'd closed the door, the nine who'd gone back to bed came to meet them. "What happened?" asked Tinga.  
  
"They said they'd take care of it," said Max.  
  
"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Eva.  
  
"I don't know," said Max.  
  
"What do we do now?" asked Brin.  
  
"There isn't much to do. All we can do is wait," said Zane.  
  
  
They went back to bed and waited. An hour passed before Ben walked back in. Once more, the kids got up. "Ben, are you okay?" asked Jondy.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," he'd said.  
  
"What did they do?" asked Jack.  
  
"Gave me some medicine. I heard them talk. They say it's going to keep happening. To me... to all of us." The kids didn't like the sound of that.  
  
  
"We'll be okay. All of us can be there for the others when it happens." They considered it and all nodded in approval. From then on, they had been like a unit within the X5s. No one seemed to notice, which was great for them. The night of the escape, they had planned to reunite on the other side of the gate. Already, their group was no longer whole. That afternoon, Jack had been lost. That had been a major hit to the group, but they knew then there was no other option anymore.  
  
  
And so they headed out, the eleven remaining, plus a few other X5s who'd followed them. Soon, they lost Eva, at Lydecker's hand. And Jace had not left the building. She had backed out, for a reason they never knew. So the remaining nine went on, not knowing if they ever WOULD be together again. Their group had been severed, three of them lost.  
  
  
There was no reunion on the other side of the gate. No pats on the back and cheers of freedom. They were all by themselves, separated. Each headed in different directions, only hoping that one day, someday, they would be together again, like before...  
  
  
"Momma?" Max came back to reality and saw her children standing by her. She smiled and signaled for them to sit with her. Each took a side, Zack on the left and Jenna on the right. Max put her arms over their shoulders and took them close to her.  
  
"Don't ever lose each other, okay? No matter what happens, you two stay together." The kids didn't move, taking comfort in their mother's embrace.  
  
"We will, Momma," said Jenna.  
  
"I promise," said Zack.  



	5. Family business

Seven years later  
  
The girl crept through the halls. It was an art museum. She wasn't there to steal anything from the exhibits, even though the circumstances could have said otherwise if she was to get caught. Dressed all in black, going around the dark building after closing time... she could have been a thief, but she wasn't. She moved into an exhibit room, avoiding the alarms they'd found out were around the room.  
  
  
Finally she found what she'd been looking for. A painting... It had been sold to a businessman and would be shipped to him once the museum took it down. What the museum curator hadn't realized, was that prior to its stay on his walls, it had been in the hands of another man, who had hidden the blueprints to that very museum in the frame. Actually, two paintings... the other half of the prints were to be retrieved by the girl's partner.  
  
  
It was the men's intentions to exchange the prints that way, to later rob the museum. Anyone would have told them it was ridiculous to do it in that manner, but that was how they did business. Only they wouldn't get them... She removed the painting from the wall, her gloves insuring that she left no fingerprints. Unfortunately, the moment she removed it, an alarm sounded. She knew it would, which was why she and her partner had been synchronized, so that both alarms would be set off at the same time. She quickly found the prints, hid them in a cylinder she carried with her, and replaced the painting.  
  
  
She knew the guards would arrive soon, so she went into place. She came to an opening that would lead straight to the first floor and the window that would allow them to exit the museum. She saw her partner on the other side. He signaled for her to wait. The guards went by, not seeing the two. When they'd gone, he gave another signal, this time to go. At the same time, they ran for the railing and jumped over it, landing on the first floor, on their feet.  
  
  
Both ran for the window, holding on tightly to the cylinders. As they leaped through the open window, they could hear the guards running down the stairs from the second floor. They landed on the grass outside and ran to the gate, easily jumping over it. Two motorcycles were waiting for them. They mounted them and sped away, the alarms still blaring inside the museum.  
  
*  
  
About an hour later  
  
Zack and Jenna, now 17, entered the penthouse, still in their dark clothes, each holding a cylinder. "We're home!" Jenna called sweetly. Zack snickered at his sister's 'Hello parents, we just stole the thing you asked for,' greeting. Each took off their black jackets and hung them on hooks next to the door. They went to meet Max and Logan in his office.  
  
  
"Here you go," said Zack as they handed over the cylinders. The two took their regular position, Zack leaning against a wall and Jenna sitting on her father's desk.  
  
"I wonder how this would look on a resume," said Jenna as she tied her hair into a ponytail, "Daughter and partner of the famous Eyes Only!"  
  
"Flashy," said Zack as he nodded with a grin.  
  
"I know!" said Jenna playfully.  
  
  
"Guys, how about paying attention?" asked Logan.  
  
"Sorry," said the twins.  
  
"So what's the plan?" asked Max, standing behind her husband.  
  
"The paintings are supposed to be shipped to the buyer in two days. From what I can figure, when he realizes the blueprints are missing, he's not gonna be very happy. I've read about him, and I can assure you that he will most definitely be heading to the seller's office immediately after he finds nothing."  
  
  
"So what do we do?" asked Zack.  
  
"One of you will go to his place when the paintings are delivered. Once he leaves, alert the other and follow him. I will 'alert' the police that something will happen at the seller's office. Whichever one of you that doesn't go to the buyer's place will have to make sure that the seller doesn't leave."  
  
  
"I'll take the seller," said Jenna. "If anyone can... distract someone, it's me."  
  
"Okay... but what about the prints?" asked Max.  
  
"I will have them delivered to the police after this is taken care of," said Logan.  
  
"Alright then, let's get to work," said Zack.  
  
*  
  
Two days later, outside the buyer's home  
  
Zack stood in wait outside the apartment building. He didn't take his eyes off the door for one second. Finally, a delivery truck drove up. A man got out and headed for the back to get the paintings. He took them inside. Ten minutes later, he got out and left. Zack shifted on his feet, knowing he was going into action in less than two minutes. Sure enough, out came the buyer just one minute later. He looked furious as he got into his car and left.  
  
  
Zack came out of hiding and jumped on his motorcycle, quickly putting his helmet on. He didn't usually wear it, but he figured it was better for no one to see his face. The chase was on. As he followed the man, he took out a cell phone and dialed.  
  
*  
  
At that time, outside the seller's office  
  
Jenna spotted him instantly as he exited the building. She started walking towards him, trying not to attract any attention. Her cell phone rang from inside her pocket and she took it out, still walking. "Yeah," she said simply.  
  
"He's on his way. He'll be there in minutes," said Zack, almost yelling to be heard through the helmet and the noise.  
  
"Got it," said Jenna as she put the phone away.  
  
  
She cut away from her straight path to the man and made it so that she would come across him from the front. She walked by him, making sure not to look suspicious as she bumped into him and fell to the ground. "Ow!" she said, although she wasn't hurt. The man immediately came to her aid.  
  
"Forgive me, I didn't see you there," he said as he helped her up.  
  
  
"It's okay, I'm... ow!" she said, clutching her ankle. "I think it's broken." He helped her to a nearby bench. She looked around slowly, seeing the police officers moving into place.  
  
"You should have a doctor check that out. I will pay for it, it's only fair."  
  
"Oh... somehow I don't think you'll have the time to do that," she said sweetly. He looked at her puzzled, when he heard the sound of a speeding car screeching to a halt.  
  
  
As he turned to see, Jenna ran off without him noticing. She made her way to Zack, who waited for her close by. She got on her motorcycle, which stood next to his. She'd left it there as a meeting point. They waited to see what would happen.  
  
  
The buyer came out of his car, moving to the seller while yelling. He almost got to him, when the officers made their move. The two men were surrounded and soon cuffed and taken away.  
  
"Good job," said Zack as he started his bike.  
  
"Thanks. I try," said Jenna as they drove off.  



	6. Visitors

Three years later, Roswell, New Mexico  
  
"Girls? Where are you?" called Anna, looking for her daughters, triplets. She walked into the living room to find the three five-year-olds, Shelby, Riley and Emily. "I've been looking all over for you, didn't you hear me?" she asked with a smile at the sight of her daughters, all blonde hair and blue eyes like her.  
  
"Riley couldn't find her shoe!" said Emily.  
  
"But we found it!" said Shelby.  
  
"See?" said Riley, holding up the two little shoes.  
  
"Alright, well hurry up, okay? As soon as your dad gets home, we're off to aunt Lisa's."  
  
  
She left the room to go get the girls some vests, it was getting cold. They were on their way to dinner with the family, as it was custom on Sundays. That week it was Lisa's turn to host. Present would be all of their parents, Sarah, Ricky with his wife and son, Rachel and Patrick, Lisa and her husband Steve, and Jack, herself, and their girls.  
  
*  
  
Soon after, Lisa and Steve's home  
  
"Patrick, can you go ask your aunt Lisa for some napkins," Maria asked her seven-year old grandson. The boy nodded and ran off.  
  
"Mom, you don't have to that," said Ricky as he walked up to his mom, "And the doctor said you needed to pace yourself." She knew he was right. A few months before she'd given them quite a scare when she'd slipped and fell down the stairs. She wasn't as young as she had been and it had taken its toll on her.  
  
"Fine, fine. I'll just go wait for the others to get here." Ricky kissed his mother on the cheek and she walked off.  
  
  
Just as she reached the living room, where Alex, Isabel, Kyle, Tess, Michael and Steve sat, the doorbell rang. She attempted to go get it, but Steve was quicker. "I'll go, you sit." Maria was getting annoyed of being treated like a little old lady who couldn't take care of herself, but she let it go. A minute later, they were joined by Max, Liz and Sarah.  
  
"Where's Lisa?" asked Sarah.  
  
"In the kitchen with Rachel," informed Tess.  
  
"Great," she said as she went to see them.  
  
  
A few minutes later, the bell rang again. "I'll get it," said Isabel as she got up. Maria tried to protest, but again lost her argument, so she remained in her seat. Isabel opened the door, and immediately was almost run over by the triple hurricane. "Gramma Izzy!" Shelby, Riley and Emily squealed as they hugged her.  
  
"Hello," she said with a laugh.  
  
"Hey Mom," said Jack as he and Anna entered. He picked up one of the girls, from the back he couldn't tell who it was. He spun the giggling girl around gently. It was Riley. He picked up another with his other arm. That one was Shelby. Anna picked up Emily and they all headed for the living room.  
  
*  
  
Later again, at the dinner table.  
  
They all sat in the dining room, the adults on the big table, and the children on a smaller table. "So what are you all planning to do for vacation?" asked Max.  
  
"I don't know," said Jack, "We were thinking of going somewhere out of the city. The kids have never been out of Roswell, so it would be nice."  
  
"Where are you gonna go?" asked Alex.  
  
"Seattle," said Sarah.  
  
*  
  
Two days later  
  
The seven adults and four children were ready to go. They thought they were done packing, until they got to Max and Liz's house when they picked up Sarah. Their parents had gathered, with packages to bring along. There were presents from all the years that had passed since they'd last had a birthday and such with the twins and Max and Logan. The four had come once for the triple wedding eight years ago, but they had forgotten to give them the presents.  
  
  
"Alright, now in this suitcase, you have all our presents to Jenna, in this one, the presents for Zack, and this one is for Max and Logan," instructed Liz as she pointed to the three large suitcases.  
  
"Wow," said Lisa. They packed up everything in and on top of the small van they'd rented.  
  
"Call us when you get there!" called Maria.  
  
"Or when you stop," added Isabel.  
  
"Be careful!" said Tess.  
  
*  
  
About a week later, Seattle, Washington  
  
"And he did it? He actually popped his tires?" Jenna asked her best friend Maya as the two and Zack were on the elevator up to the penthouse, carrying some bags filled with what Max had asked them to get.  
  
"All four," she said, talking about a guy who worked with the three of them. It had amazed Max when they told her they would be working at Jam Pony, just as she had. What had been harder to swallow had been the boss, whose tires had been popped by the guy after he'd been fired. The boss in question had once been her friend, but he'd changed over the years, and somehow had become just like Normal. Her Sketchy was gone... now it was Calvin.  
  
  
The three 20-year-olds walked into the penthouse still laughing. "We're back!" called Zack. Max came to meet them quickly.  
  
"What took so long? They'll be here soon."  
  
"We had trouble finding some of the stuff on your list," said Maya, looking at her watch, "Damn, I gotta go. Tell me how it goes, alright? And I want to meet them later."  
  
"Sure," said Jenna as she led her friend out, "Later!"  
  
  
Less than an hour later, there was a knock and the door opened. They'd been given keys to the building and were free to let themselves in, after all, they were family. "Hello?" called Sarah.  
  
"Hey!" said Max as she ran to hug her sister. "How are you?" she asked her.  
  
"Fine, fine, where are the niece and nephew?" she asked, just as Zack and Jenna came into the room.  
  
"Sarah!" said Jenna as she went to hug her aunt.  
  
"Wow... I feel like I just did this," said Sarah, indicating her sister. She hugged Zack next.  
  
"I swear, if you weren't my nephew..."  
  
  
The next ten minutes were much of the same thing... introductions and re-introductions for the children and Steve and Rachel, who had only seen them at their respective weddings.  
  
*  
  
At that time, somewhere in Seattle  
  
He sat in his office, silently working. He was twenty-five, tall, blonde hair, blue eyes. To anyone, he may have seemed like any other man, but he wasn't... he was deadly, the kind of person you did not want to get angry. He was disturbed from his work when there came a knock at the door.  
  
"Mr. Trent?" the man asked shakily. He looked up to see the short balding man standing at the entrance.  
  
"Come in."  
  
"You asked to see me?"  
  
"Yes. I want to know how you're doing with the mission." The man gulped.  
  
"W... well, we haven't... found anything... yet. But we're close!"  
  
"Good. See? That wasn't so hard." The man smiled weakly and started to turn away. "Oh, one more thing." He turned back.  
  
"Y... yes?" He didn't have time to react. Trent took out a gun and shot the man in the head from his chair. The man fell to the ground, a shocked expression on his face. Very calmly, Trent picked up his phone and dialed a number.  
  
"Clean-up," he simply said. He put the receiver down and sat silently, looking at the dead man lying outside his door.  



	7. Making plans

The next day  
  
The four kids ran around the penthouse, while the adults sat together, catching up on what they'd missed. They were also busy opening all the presents they'd received from the family back in Roswell. It was slightly overwhelming, but they didn't care. It was a nice touch and they appreciated it a lot.  
  
  
"So what should we do now? We could go somewhere, all of us... something the kids could have fun with, that would still be interesting for us, you know?" asked Max.  
  
"What about the zoo?" suggested Jenna.  
  
"Let's see," said Anna, as she turned towards the kids, who's stopped in a corner for a minute.  
  
  
"Hey guys, how'd you like to go to the zoo?" she asked them.  
  
"What's that?" asked Emily.  
  
"It's where there's a lot of animals," said Patrick.  
  
"Monkeys?" asked Riley, getting excited.  
  
"I wanna see monkeys!" said Shelby, her sister's excitement rubbing off.  
  
"Everyone agree? We go to the zoo then?" asked Jack.  
  
"Yes!" exclaimed the four kids.  
  
*  
  
At that time, Trent HQ  
  
The two men and two women waited in the plain room. The mood was tense, as well it should. Their employer was as unpredictable as someone could be. The disappearance of some of their colleagues on a regular basis was proof enough. Hopefully what they had to announce would get them through the day. Just then, Andrew Trent breezed through the door. He didn't bother saying hello and simply sat and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
  
"I'm waiting. What do you have?" The four shuffled into their seats.  
  
"W... well, as you know, we've been attempting to find that... X5 and her mother. This morning we found something. If this is the right woman..."  
  
"Keep going,' said Trent, not showing one bit of emotion.  
  
"According to what we've found... she has a husband and two children. We've checked her background, and although we haven't found a home address, we have a workplace," said one of the men as he pushed a few sheets of paper towards Trent.  
  
  
"Zachary Cale," he read off the first sheet, then off the second, "Jennifer Cale." He looked up. "What makes you think these two are the X5 girl's children?" One of the women spoke up.  
  
"This is a picture of their mother," she said, handing over a picture. Trent looked over from the pictures on the sheets to the one he'd just been handed.  
  
"Again, how do we know this woman is the X5?" The woman spoke up again.  
  
"This is the last known picture we have of X5-452," she said, handing him one more picture.  
  
  
He looked at all the pictures for several seconds, then finally looked up. "Congratulations." He got up. "I want you to install phone taps and microphones, the whole deal, at this..." He looked down at the sheets again. "Jam Pony," he read off them.  
  
"Yes, sir," they said as they hurried out. They breathed a sigh of relief as they got to work.  
  
*  
  
The next morning, Jam Pony  
  
"I tell you, they're just the sweetest things. The girls... they look just like their mother... and their maternal grandmother," Jenna told Maya as they rolled in from their latest deliveries.  
  
"I've never seen triplets," said Maya.  
  
"It's incredible, they look so much alike. I don't know how they can tell them apart. And Patrick is like this... big brother to them, it's so sweet."  
  
"I think you've said that already,' said Maya as Zack came up to them.  
  
"Hey, Mom wants you to call her to check what time we go."  
  
"Okay," said Jenna as she headed to the pay phone.  
  
  
She picked up the receiver, put in a quarter. There was no tone so she banged her hand on the side. Finally she heard it, so she dialed. "Hello?" came her father's voice.  
  
"Hey, Dad, it's me."  
  
"Hi!"  
  
"Yeah, Mom wanted me to call?"  
  
"Yes, I..." He stopped when he heard a loud voice in the background.  
  
"No personal calls!"  
  
"Dad, I gotta go... Calvin is getting testy. What time do you want to meet at the zoo?"  
  
"How's two?"  
  
"Sounds good to me. Go back to work now," Logan said with a laugh.  
  
*  
  
Minutes later, Trent HQ  
  
"Sir!" came a man as he entered the office.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I think we may have something. Here's a tape from our lines in Jam Pony," he said as he set a small tape player on the desk and hit play.  
  
"I've never seen triplets," they heard a young girl say.  
  
"It's incredible, they look so much alike..." replied another girl. He continued listening. "What time do you want to meet at the zoo?" He stopped the tape.  
  
"Get a team in here, NOW! I have a new idea."  



	8. Zoo

A few hours later, in front of the zoo  
  
Zack and Jenna had taken the afternoon off and had managed to arrive first. It had required some work from their mother, but 'Calvin' had finally caved. The two waited for the others to arrive and finally, they saw the van pull up. Anna got out and put the girls on the ground, followed by Patrick. The three sisters ran off to see Zack and Jenna. Shelby was first as she was picked up by Zack. Riley ended up in Jenna's arms, as did Emily.  
  
"You guys excited?" asked Jenna, "You get to see the monkeys!" The girls cheered loudly as they were joined by the rest of the group.  
  
  
"We're all here, so let's go!" said Jack. They headed inside and split into two groups. Rachel, Anna, Sarah and the kids went to see the monkeys while the others decided on the elephants. They figured it would be easier that way, since they didn't know how long the kids would want to stay with the monkeys, so the others went on their side, to see the rest of the animals.  
  
  
The kids and the three women walked through the zoo, looking quickly at animals as they passed them. Soon, Sarah spotted the monkey house. She pointed it out and the kids ran off to see. "Wait for us, guys," called Anna as they kept walking. About five feet from the entrance, they heard four distinct little screams, three of which were relatively identical. The women looked to each other for a second before running in.  
  
  
When they reached the main room, they barely had the time to see what was happening. Four men were heading to a back exit, each holding one of the children, holding their hands over their mouths so they wouldn't scream again. They kept on attempting to free themselves from the men's grips, to no avail. The women went to stop them before they felt something plant itself in their backs and fell to the ground, shaking uncontrollably at the electricity flowing through them.  
  
  
The men with the children and the shooters made their way out, the children screaming against their restraints at the sight of their mothers and/or aunts falling. The women were barely conscious enough to see what was happening anymore. It took several minutes before they passed out and the shaking subsided.  
  
  
Elsewhere in the zoo, the rest of the group made their way through the different areas and eventually found themselves in front of the monkey house. They walked in normally. Jack was in front and, seeing his wife on the floor he rushed to her side, picking her up into his arms. "ANNA!" he called. She was unconscious. The others were in soon as well and were speechless at the sight of the three of them on the ground.  
  
  
Ricky went to his wife, while Zack went to his aunt. They called their names, attempting to wake them up. Sarah was the first to make a noise. She was extremely weak, but she seemed relatively coherent.  
  
"What happened here? Where are the kids?" asked Jack, frantically. Sarah tried to talk but found she couldn't. So instead, she pointed to the open door ahead. Zack turned to Steve.  
  
"Watch her. Jenna, come on," he said to his sister. She didn't have to be told twice.  
  
  
The two ran out of the house. "You go right, I go left," instructed Zack.  
  
"Right," said Jenna. The two went their separate way, not really caring that they may have seemed suspicious. The situation was urgent and all that mattered for now was to get the children back. They didn't know who was responsible. But if that person went as far as shocking the women to take the children, they knew they were there for a reason.  
  
  
They covered the whole zoo in minutes. Zack went through the aquatic animals sections, the elephants, the gorillas... Jenna passed the giraffes, the zebras, the lions... No trace at all of Shelby, Riley, Emily or Patrick. They rejoined in front of the monkey house.  
  
"Nothing?" asked Zack.  
  
"No. Where are they? What do we do?" said Jenna, feeling like she was on the verge of tears.  
  
"Calm down, okay? We'll find them."  
  
  
They went back into the house. All but Sarah, Anna and Rachel looked up at them. "We couldn't find them. We went through the entire place." The others looked exasperated.  
  
"Who could have taken them?" asked Jenna. Sarah made a noise then. Zack bent down and looked into her eyes.  
  
"Do you know who took them?"  
  
  
She attempted to point somewhere, even though her arms felt very heavy. "B... back..." she managed to mumble, although it was very low and they hardly heard it. They looked to each other, confused. "B... back," she repeated, still pointing behind her. Steve lifted her up a little and looked on her back.  
  
  
"Oh my God!" he said.  
  
"What?" asked the others. He pulled something out of her back, which caused her to wince. He brought it into the light and they saw. Immediately, they checked Anna and Rachel. Sure enough, there were the things planted in them as well.  
  
"This can't be," whispered Jenna.  
  
"They're not in the zoo anymore, that's for sure. And staying here won't do us any good. Let's get home," instructed Zack. They carried the women out, trying to keep it as discreet as possible.  



	9. I K

Shortly after, the penthouse  
  
Max and Logan had backed out of the visit to the zoo at the last minute, deciding to get a nice dinner ready for the visiting crowd and the twins, who would probably be exhausted after the day out with the kids. And it had been a nice time for just the two of them to be together. They were cutting vegetables for a salad when they heard the door burst open.  
  
  
"Mom! Dad!" yelled Jenna. They looked to each other and walked quickly. They ran up when they saw the state they were in. They were carrying Sarah, Lisa and Rachel in and gently put them on the couch. They quickly noticed that the children were not with them and that the rest of the group looked equally saddened, panicked and tired.  
  
  
"What happened?" asked Max as she went to her sister.  
  
"The children were kidnapped," said Zack, fishing for something in his pocket.  
  
"By who?" asked Logan. Zack showed them.  
  
"We found these in their backs," he said, indicating the women, "Somehow I don't think someone would go as far as shocking them if they didn't have a plan. And from the technology, the field is definitely narrowed, as much as I hate to think about it..."  
  
  
"P... paper," mumbled Sarah. The three of them had regained consciousness but they were still very weak. They brought her a pen and paper. She looked down at it and seemed to try to concentrate. She began to write on it... no, she was drawing... It was very hard and it took a while. At one moment, she stopped and observed what she'd come up with.  
  
  
"This... on their sleeves," she said as she turned the pad around.  
  
"I... K?" read Lisa. They were elaborately drawn... not simple letters... they meant something.  
  
"Are you sure?" asked Max. Sarah passed it to Anna and Rachel. The two women observed it, closed their eyes for a few seconds, as if to try to recall. Eventually, they opened their eyes and nodded.  
  
  
They were too confused to show for now, but they were hurting terribly on the inside. They'd been helpless to protect their children. And now they were with these strangers... They must be so scared...  
  
  
"I'll start looking for something... anything... I don't exactly have a lot to go on. I'll try to see if I can find what this means," said Logan as he picked up Sarah's drawing.  
  
"How are we supposed to find them? Who knows where they are now?" said Ricky, feeling frightened for his son.  
  
"Relax, we'll find them, I promise," said Logan.  
  
  
Logan went to his office to start researching, soon to be joined by Max. The group in the living room was mainly one big wreck. The parents were crying and reminiscing about their lost children, while the rest mostly attempted to find a way to make it their fault, followed by someone always saying that it wasn't. It was some kind of pain... one that they had never imagined they would ever have to experience.  
  
  
In the office, Max and Logan worked on two computers, looking through any kind of records of military activity in the city recently, and try to find a meaning for the symbol. Logan worked on location, while Max worked with the symbol. She could swear she'd seen it before, but she couldn't explain it. She stared at it for what seemed like hours. Until the answer came to her like a sharp blow to the head...  
  
"Iota Kappa..." she whispered.  
  
  
She was lost in her thoughts once more, thinking back to a training session back at Manticore. It was five of them, Ben, Krit, Syl, Brin, and herself. She'd managed to steal a glance to the other groups. Zack, Jondy, Tinga, Jace and Jack were in another group, and Eva and Zane were in a group with three other X5s. They did this kind of thing every once in a while. They were taken out of the base, separated in groups of five, and quizzed and tested by different people. This time they had been taken to the forests by Lydecker himself.  
  
  
The five of them had been instructed to sit on the ground, so they had. Lydecker spoke for a while, pacing from side to side as he did so. However on one occasion, he stepped out of his usual line, not realizing that there was a large hole filled by the water of a recent rainfall. When he stepped back, he fell in, drenched from head to toes instantly.  
  
  
Knowing they would have to suffer very hard consequences if they didn't help, the five children helped the poor man out. They got their uniforms slightly wet in the process, but it wouldn't matter.  
  
"Good job," he said as he removed his jacket, under which he wore a sleeveless shirt. It didn't take long for them to see a tattoo on the top side of his left arm, near the shoulder.  
  
"Sir," said Brin, "I have a question."  
  
  
"Go ahead, X5-734," he answered, ringing the water out of his jacket.  
  
"What is that?" she said, pointing to the tattoo. He hesitated, as if to decide whether he should tell them or pass it as none of their business. Finally he explained.  
  
"These are Greek letters."  
  
"What do they mean?" asked Ben.  
  
"Iota Kappa, it was something I had done with a group of friends many years ago."  
  
"All the same?" asked Syl.  
  
"No, we each had different ones."  
  
"Why did you take those?" asked Krit.  
  
"Yeah," said Max.  
  
"I don't know. That's enough for now. Back to the base."  
  
"Yes, sir," responded the five X5s.  
  
  
"Max," she heard Logan call to her. She came back to reality and shook the rest of the thoughts away.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think I found where they're being held. I have three potential places still with possibility of being the right one." She got up and looked at the files.  
  
"That one," she said, pointing to the third one.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"I just do," she said calmly.  
  
"Okay. Any luck with the drawing?" She looked up at him, feeling tears.  
  
"Iota Kappa... These people are from Manticore. Manticore took them."  
  
*  
  
About an hour later  
  
"Alright, you guys know what to do?" Max asked Zack and Jenna as they put on their dark clothes. This was like one of their 'missions', like when they did Eyes Only things. Only this time, it was very different... This time, they were scared. They tried to hide it, but the others could see it. They understood and didn't say anything.  
  
  
"I'm ready," said Zack as he zipped up his jacket.  
  
"Me too," said Jenna, slipping on her gloves.  
  
"We won't contact you, but you contact us, alright, keep us informed," said Logan.  
  
"We will," said Jenna. Zack went up to Anna and Rachel.  
  
"We'll get them back. I promise." They nodded.  
  
  
The two left, went down the elevator to find their father's car in the garage. They climbed in, and Jenna turned to her brother.  
  
"What if we don't... I don't want to think about that possibility... but it could happen. For all we know, Mom was wrong and they AREN'T at that place... Or they were and they aren't any more. What happens then?" She hated feeling so vulnerable, but she couldn't help it. No matter how strong they were, they were still only human.  
  
  
"Jenna... We can do this. I'm scared too, but I know we can do this, alright? Believe you can... for them." She smiled to her brother.  
  
"Let's do this." They opened the garage door and sped out into the Seattle streets.  



	10. Rescue

Not too far from Trent's HQ, about fifteen minutes later  
  
They pulled up slowly, knowing they needed to be very careful. They observed the large building standing just a few feet away. They scanned for the way in that had been shown to them by their parents. Finally, they found it. It was a window on top of the place. They got out of the car and walked off to the side of the building.  
  
  
Zack shot two ropes with hooks up to the top of the wall and made sure they were holding tightly. He confirmed it to his sister and they climbed quickly. Once they were up, they raised the ropes out of the way and hid them so that they could just throw them back down if it came that they would make their escape with them.  
  
  
They crept silently across the roof, making their way to a mostly hidden sky view, with just a small square for them to look through. They approached the square, almost afraid of what they'd see down below. Zack could hold his emotions in just fine. Jenna, however, would have more trouble. When they saw, she bit her tongue to prevent herself from yelling, and soon she tasted her own blood in her mouth.  
  
  
The four children sat huddled in a corner, their little arms and legs tied with rope and a piece of cloth in their mouths tied behind their heads to keep them from screaming. There was terror on their young faces. All three of the girls were weeping, the sound muffled. Patrick was trying to be strong for them, but he was still frightened.  
  
  
There were no guards IN the room, but they assumed there were some outside the door, which made the need to be very quiet even more important. They would have to cut out the window square before anything. Zack took care of that while Jenna was preparing. Both finished at the same time. She nodded and they began.  
  
  
Jenna verified that the harness was secure and handed the rope to Zack, who arranged a makeshift pulley to pull her up and down throughout the procedure. She positioned herself and soon was being lowered into the room. She was quick to make the kids see that it was her, and that they had to remain as quiet as possible.  
  
  
She eventually came to the floor and spun to land on her feet. She was lucky that she landed very close to them. She grabbed the nearest one, Patrick, and returned below the window. She tugged on the rope and Zack began pulling her up. Once she was high enough, he steadied the rope, then pulled Patrick out. He then lowered Jenna back down. While waiting for the next tug, he untied the boy's restraints.  
  
  
Jenna hurried and grabbed one of the girls. She couldn't tell them apart quite yet, but she was almost sure it was Emily. She did the same as before and was lowered a third time. But as she picked up the one she thought to be Shelby, she heard what sounded like someone running towards the room and yelling. She had no other choice, so she picked up Riley as well.  
  
  
Knowing there was no point in being completely silent anymore, she called up to Zack. "Pull hard! All the way!" Before long, the three found themselves high in the air. Knowing what was to happen for sure, she brought the girls really close to herself, to shield them. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the oncoming blow.  
  
  
She heard the door open and dared to open her eyes, even though she knew there were risks. She saw the man right before... She felt the glass crash over her back, pieces flying all over. On the roof, she landed on her back, with the girls still in her arms. She felt Zack release the rope from the harness and quickly, they ran with the children in their arms, towards their waiting ropes, which they kicked over the wall.  
  
  
They instructed the children to hold on very tightly to them, which they did. They hiked down the wall and arrived to the ground, immediately running. They could hear alarms in the building and they knew they had to get out of there right then, and the sooner the better. A few meters away from the car, Zack put Patrick and Emily on the ground and told them to run to the car. Zack was beyond them and opened the door.  
  
  
The two jumped in the back seat, while Zack headed for the front seat. Jenna ran with the two bound girls and set them down next to the others as fast as she could, before shutting the door and running to the other side and her seat.  
  
"Do we have everyone?" asked Zack as he started the car.  
  
"Yes! Go!" yelled Jenna. He did just that and they were gone.  
  
*  
  
Soon after, back at the penthouse  
  
They all sat around the room, waiting. Rachel and Anna sat side by side, a firm grasp on the other's hand. Sarah, Lisa, Jack, Ricky and Steve were by them, but found it very hard to talk about anything anymore. So, they just waited. Logan and Max were still in the other room, doing some research.  
  
  
Suddenly, they heard the door open, then close a few seconds later. Anna and Rachel got up slowly, soon followed by their husbands. No one could breathe as they waited. They felt tears of relief roll down their cheeks when the four children came running at them. The room was flowing with emotion as everyone came forward to welcome the children back, but mostly to assure they were alright.  
  
  
When they were calming down, they heard Logan and Max come into the room. "What'd you find?" Zack asked, as he and his sister finally stepped forward, which gave the others the first opportunity to get a good look at them.  
  
  
Zack was fine, but Jenna looked not so well. She had a large cut by her right eye, which still bled on her face, even though she'd wiped many times at it. She had removed her jacket, revealing another cut, larger, which must have been very painful when she'd removed the jacket, the piece of glass still slightly in there. There were also a few little droplets of blood on the back of her shirt.  
  
  
"Jenna! What happened to you?" Max asked her daughter as she quickly walked over to her.  
  
"It's no big deal. We had to make a... crashing exit. I'm fine."  
  
"Oh really?" said Max, as she pulled the piece of glass lodged in Jenna's shoulder, making the girl howl in pain. She staggered then fell on the couch.  
  
"What was that for?"  
  
"Well, I HAD to get it out of there." Jenna sent a look towards her mother, but let it pass.  
  
  
"Did you find out anything more about these people while we were gone?" Zack asked his father. Logan and Max looked to each other, and it sent a chill through Zack and Jenna.  
  
"Why don't I like the way you two just looked at one another?" asked Jenna as Sarah was tending to her shoulder. Logan sighed, then spoke.  
  
  
"Let's just say we found more than we wanted to."  
  
"Is it really that bad?" asked Zack calmly.  
  
"And worse," said Max. No one could speak, waiting for them to tell what they'd discovered.  
  
"The people who took them," started Logan, indicating the children, who'd already fallen asleep on the couches, "They... It seems that they are tied to something that has to do with Manticore."  
  
"You're kidding... right?" said Jenna hopefully.  
  
  
"I wish I was, and believe me, that's not even our biggest problem." Logan hesitated, then showed them a picture.  
  
"That guy was there, I saw him as I was being pulled out," said Jenna.  
  
"This is the man in charge of all the operations at that place. His name is Andrew Trent... or at least that's what his name is in papers."  
  
"You're losing me," said Jenna.  
  
  
"I did some looking around in what was available, made some phone calls. From Sarah's drawing and Max's information, I was able to piece it together. Found something about a project, something they referred to as G.E.R.I.K.... or in other words, 'Genetically Engineered Replacement Iota Kappa'..."  
  
"What is that supposed to be exactly?" asked Zack.  
  
  
"Well, it seems that 25 years ago, after our last encounter with him, Lydecker did some work..." said Max.  
  
"What kind of work?" asked Jenna.  
  
"I'm guessing he realized he wouldn't always be able to continue his Manticore work. So he... made himself a replacement for when he would be gone, someone that could carry on with it all... in his own image," said Max, feeling chills of her own.  
  
"Excuse me?" said a bewildered Jenna, "You don't mean he..."  
  
"He made himself a genetically-enhanced son," said Zack with slight disgust as the room fell into complete silence.  
  
  
"So... this Trent guy is part of the G.E.R.I.K. project?" asked Jenna after a few minutes.  
  
"No," said Max slowly, "He IS the project."  



	11. Fire

Jam Pony, the next afternoon  
  
"So are you gonna tell me what happened to you or not?" Maya asked Jenna, pointing to the large cut on her face.  
  
"Not," said Jenna, opening a bottle of water. The two girls and Zack were having lunch, enjoying the free time, knowing that their boss wouldn't hesitate to yell at them to get to work the second they got up once they were done.  
  
  
"Fine, fine, be like that," said Maya with a grin. Zack looked around the table.  
  
"Where did all the napkins go?" he asked, indicating some sauce he'd dropped on the table.  
  
"Must have run out," said Maya as she got up, "I'll go see if I can find something."  
  
"Alright," said Zack as he smiled at her. Jenna observed her brother and her best friend and rolled her eyes.  
  
  
"Why don't you just ask her out already?" Zack turned to her.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You, Maya... Don't even try to tell me you don't like her, I won't believe you," said Jenna, waving her bottle around.  
  
"You tell her this, I'll kick your butt." Jenna put on a shocked face.  
  
"You would beat your little sister? That's just wrong!"  
  
"Little sister... you're only about two minutes younger than me."  
  
"So?" she said with a grin.  
  
  
Suddenly, there was a loud noise, like a window breaking, soon followed by screaming. Zack and Jenna looked to each other for a second before getting up to go see what was going on. It took barely one second for them to see. Someone had begun throwing fiery objects through the windows of the whole building. The place was filled with flames and smoke in no time.  
  
  
"We have to get out of here!" said Zack.  
  
"But what about Maya?" asked Jenna.  
  
"She can get out on her own, come on!" he said, dragging his sister towards the exit. Before they could get there, they realized they had to help everyone else. They carried some, helped others walk to the exit. A few had been trapped under a fallen beam, but they were saved as well.  
  
  
When they couldn't see anymore people inside, they headed outside. Fire trucks and paramedics had arrived by then and were treating the injured people. Jenna looked around the crowd, while coughing, to try to find her friend. But soon she noticed she wasn't present.  
  
"W... where's Maya?" she asked Zack.  
  
"She has to be around here."  
  
  
"She's still in there," said Jenna as she turned back to the burning building. Zack saw her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"No, you are not going in there, it's too dangerous."  
  
"Let... go of me!"  
  
"No way," said Zack. Jenna turned to her brother, her face filled with anger.  
  
"If you try to stop me I will beat you down. Now, let go of my arm." He hesitated for a second, then let go.  
  
"Be careful. If you're not back in five minutes, I'm going in after you."  
  
  
She nodded, then slid into the building, leaving her brother more worried than ever. It was awful inside. Complete chaos when only a few minutes before it had been so peaceful.  
  
"MAYA!" she called. She made her way across the flames, knowing she might have been stuck in the back when the fire broke out.  
  
  
"MAYA!" she called again as she got to the back. She heard a small sound and looked down to her right. All she could see was her hand coming from under the storage cabinet, but she knew it was her. She removed her jacket and wrapped it around her hands in case the thing was too hot before throwing it off of her friend.  
  
  
It wasn't a pretty sight. Maya had been burned in a few places and showed some cuts and bruises from when the cabinet fell on her. She was barely conscious. Jenna picked her up and looked around the room. Her path was blocked by then. She stepped back, when the thought of the back door came to her.  
  
  
Luckily for her, it was very easy to get through the back. She ran along the outside walls to come circling around to the front.  
  
"I GOT HER!" she screamed. Zack and a couple of paramedics came running at her as she set Maya down. Jenna sat on the ground about two feet behind them as they worked on Maya. Zack came to her side and took her hand.  
  
  
About a minute later, the two paramedics looked up to each other. They set down the instruments they were holding. One of them turned to the shaking twins.  
  
"I'm so sorry," said the woman, with a hint of sadness in her voice. Jenna's eyes grew wide, even more so as she saw the second paramedic look at his watch.  
  
"Time of death, 12:42," he said slowly.  
  
*  
  
Not too long after, hospital hall  
  
Zack sat, silently crying, as his sister cried out loud with her head on his shoulder. They were still in shock. Their friend was dead. Three people, including Maya, had perished in that fire. The police was still baffled by who could have been responsible... but THEY knew...  
  
  
"I... it's... m... my... f... fault," Jenna managed to let out, still sobbing uncontrollably. Zack looked down at her.  
  
"No, it wasn't," he said slowly.  
  
"If... if I had gone... to help her before, when I was close enough..." she said before Zack interrupted her.  
  
"No... if I hadn't sent her to get the napkins, she..." He couldn't hold himself anymore and he started to cry again, this time out loud along with his sister.  
  
  
They faintly heard the sound of hurried steps and looked up to find their parents and the others running towards them.  
  
"Mom, Dad," said Jenna as she got up. Max hugged her children close to her heart.  
  
"Are you okay? You guys scared me!" she said, feeling a few tears.  
  
"We're fine, Mom," said Zack.  
  
  
"What happened?" Logan asked, as Jenna let go of her mother only to fall into his arms, the tears still coming one after the other.  
  
"Maya's... she..." Zack started before stopping when he thought of that sweet girl he was about to ask out... and now she was gone.  
  
"I'm so sorry, honey," said Max as she brought her son closer.  
  
  
"We should get home," said Logan, "You two have to rest."  
  
"No," said Jenna suddenly, standing away from her father.  
  
"Jenna..." he said.  
  
"I'm not just going to go to bed when that... that monster is out there. He kidnapped the kids... he set fire to our office and killed three people... three friends... I'm not gonna let him get away with this." Her tone was angered, dangerous... she was ready to burst, and when she did, it wouldn't be pretty...  



	12. Abandon ship

A few hours later, Trent HQ  
  
Trent sat in his office, waiting silently. Finally, two men and a woman came into the room. "What took you so long?" he asked.  
  
"It took longer than expected for the papers to show up, we got here as soon as we got them," said one of the men.  
  
"Well, then..."  
  
"There were three casualties... But the Cale twins survived," said the second man.  
  
  
Trent didn't speak. He simply looked at the wall.  
  
"Go," he said, then getting up, "Do whatever you have to, I want those kids in here, and believe me, if you don't have them soon... well, let's just say you better succeed... or else this will be your last assignment. Ever. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes, sir," the three said, their voices shaking.  
  
"Then go." They didn't have to be told twice and they were out of the office in seconds.  
  
  
They went down halls and stairs and were finally back in their office. "I don't know what to do anymore," said the woman, "He just creeps me out and I want to leave."  
  
"You know we can't do that. He'll kill us before he allows any of us to leave," said one of the two men, her husband.  
  
"But this is ridiculous. About everyone in here wants to go. We have an advantage, we just have to take it."  
  
  
"Then take it," came a voice from the door. They turned to find two people they recognized immediately.  
  
"It's you," said the woman. The second man headed for a phone.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Jenna as the two of them pulled out guns. The three put their hands up.  
  
"Please, don't hurt us," said the first man.  
  
  
"We don't want to hurt you, and if you cooperate, then we'll both get what we want," said Jenna.  
  
"What do you want us to do?" asked the woman.  
  
"You said that everyone wanted to leave? Well we can help you," said Zack.  
  
"Even if we leave, as long as he's alive, he'll never leave us alone," said the second man. The two remained silent.  
  
"I see," said the woman.  
  
"So what do we do?" asked the first man.  
  
  
"Evacuate everyone that wants out, without alerting Trent. We also need to know of any surveillance that might stand in our way," said Jenna.  
  
"I can take care of those," said the second man.  
  
"Then I suggest you hurry, because in twenty minutes... well, you'll see," said Zack.  
  
  
The three got to work immediately and twenty minutes later, the place was empty, except for Zack, Jenna, and Trent. The woman had supplied the twins with all the material they'd demanded. So they did their part, and before setting it all in motion, they went to a small balcony one window above from Trent's office.  
  
  
Jenna looked to her brother and he nodded. She took out a crossbow, the woman had supplied it as well, and lit the tip of the arrow, which soon burned. She aimed it for inside the hall beyond the office they saw from the window. She shot the arrow and it hit right on target. It was like a chain... the flames ran up the walls, the floors... everywhere that they'd spilled the gas over.  
  
  
They waited for a few minutes, already seeing the flames coming inside the offices above and below them. It would soon hit Trent's office, and they waited in silence, perched on the edge of the balcony. Eventually, they heard the sound of Trent coughing, then yelling, but they knew he wasn't trying to leave his office, which confused them.  
  
  
Zack told Jenna to hold on to his ankle and lower him upside down, so he could see through the window to Trent's office. She did so and when he saw Trent, he was down on the floor, from what he could tell, he was hardly breathing and he was unconscious. He indicated for Jenna to take him back up.  
  
  
Once he was next to her, he gave her a signal and she gave him a look of shame and disgust and shook her head no. He did it again and still she refused. He did it a third time and she shrugged but approved.  
  
  
The two swung down from the balcony, right into the fiery blaze that had once been Andrew Trent's office. They picked him up, putting his arms around their shoulders. They went up to the window. Zack pulled the man on his back and together, he and his sister jumped over the border down to the ground. It was only two levels and they landed on their feet.  
  
  
They saw the employees standing in the distance, and they knew they hadn't seen them go, taking their boss off to the two waiting motorcycles. Zack mounted the man beside himself and they all headed off into the night.  



	13. Wake up

About an hour later, Trent's HQ's remains  
  
The fire had finally been put out. As planned, all of them had told the police that it had been an accident, as they'd been instructed to do. They had no idea the 'accident' would be that, but they'd done a good job. And the police were more than happy to not have to investigate.  
  
  
The two men and the woman who'd been approached by the twins walked into the building slowly, looking at what had been left of their old offices. They went up to the office that had once belonged to the man from their nightmares. It was as burned as the rest, if not more. They found pieces of clothing on the ground.  
  
  
"Is he gone? Is he dead?" said the woman.  
  
"I don't know. But we ARE going to report he is. We're free... all we have to do is put the rule in motion," said the first man as he hugged his wife.  
  
"I don't know about you two, but I'm leaving the state as soon as possible, in case he does come back..." said the second man.  
  
"I don't think he will," said the woman as they left for good.  
  
*  
  
At that time, the Penthouse  
  
Zack walked up to his sister, who sat by the window. "Hey," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder before she pushed it off. "Jenna, listen..."  
  
"No, you listen, Zack. How could you make me do this? That guy is dangerous, he's better off dead. But instead you brought him into our house?" she said, a single tear on her cheek.  
  
"I know it may not seem that way but... I just had this feeling, I can't explain it, but I HAD to save him." She was about to reply, when they were called into the living room.  
  
  
They had put him on the couch, still unconscious. When the others had seen him being dragged into the house, they'd all taken a small step back. But now he was waking up. Jenna walked up to him and pulled out a gun, pointing it at his head from far enough that he couldn't reach for it.  
  
"One wrong move and I swear I'll shoot," she said coldly. The others didn't talk and simply stood in their places around the man.  
  
  
He looked like a small, confused child. "What... what happened? Where am I? Who are you people and why are you pointing a gun at me?" he said slowly.  
  
"Oh just stop with the act," said Jenna.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, the last thing I remember I was in my room after training and..." Suddenly, it was like something had come rushing at him and he covered his eyes.  
  
  
"No... It... can't be, I didn't... oh no..." He started to shake slightly and pushed himself further into the couch. Jenna was getting annoyed, but Max held up a hand.  
  
"Slow down a bit. What do you remember?" she asked the man.  
  
"I was... in my room and then I... had this weird dream and then... I was here... But now I... I remember all this stuff that's happened since then... such horrible things..." Max gasped then turned to her husband.  
  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked her.  
  
"He's just like us... and we were about to become what he's become..."  
  
"What? I don't understand," said Logan.  
  
"They made us, trained us... and they were going to... brainwash us into feeling no remorse for our actions..."  
  
"Brainwash?" said Zack.  
  
"They would make us believe it was okay... but we escaped before they could do it..."  
  
"How do you know that?" asked Logan.  
  
"I'm not sure... I don't think I even understand it myself..."  
  
  
"So basically what you're saying is that he's back to his senses?" said Sarah, looking to the man, who was still very much confused.  
  
"Um... what do we call you?" Max asked him.  
  
"Well... they called me... G.E.R.I.K.," he said.  
  
"Ah... would it be okay for us to call you Andrew..."  
  
"Please do," he said softly.  
  
"Alright... Andrew, that last memory you talked about... how old were you?" He thought.  
  
"I... I was eight, almost nine."  
  
  
"You're not actually gonna believe him, are you?" asked Jenna. He turned to her, and an expression of sadness came to his face.  
  
"Your friend... she died because of me, didn't she?" She frowned.  
  
"What do you think?" He looked into Jenna's young, sad face and felt tears, the first in over a decade, fall down his face.  
  
"I'm so sorry... I know that my apologies won't bring her back or erase anything... but it's all I can give you..." She stared at him silently, crying as well.  
  
  
"What do we do now? What do we do with him? He can't stay here in Seattle if he's supposed to be dead... And they could come looking for him... The new boss won't leave us alone either..." said Zack.  
  
"No... There won't be a new boss," said Andrew, looking to Zack.  
  
"What are you saying?" asked Max.  
  
"There... there was a rule, I'm not even sure how it came into existence, but... it states that if I die, I am not to be replaced and operations will be shut down for good."  
  
  
"Wow..." said Max, then, "What happened to the other X5s? The ones that didn't escape? And Lydecker?" He thought again.  
  
"The other X5s all were working for me. In fact... two of them got married... They are the only married couple where both worked for me. They're always working with another one of the X5s, a man..."  
  
  
Zack looked to his sister, and he knew she had the same thought. However, they didn't say anything. "What about Lydecker?" asked Max. Andrew shut his eyes and put his hands on his head.  
  
"He's dead."  
  
"Well, yeah, I figured... I mean, he'd be way too old..."  
  
"I killed him," whispered Andrew.  
  
  
There wasn't a sound in the room. "What?" asked Max slowly.  
  
"When... when I was ten. I've been running the place since then." Max sat down in shock. Logan went to her side.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"I'm... I'm fine..." She looked up to the crowd around her.  
  
"So what do we do with him?" she said, indicating Andrew, "Where do we send him?"  



	14. Home

A few days later, Roswell, New Mexico  
  
"Are you sure we need to do it this way? Why can't we just tell them the truth?" asked Sarah as they drove up to her parents' house, where they and the others were waiting for their return from Seattle.  
  
"It'll be better this way," said Jack, "Now are you ready?"  
  
"I guess so."  
  
  
The arrived and everyone got out of the van and headed for the door. They walked in, going straight to the living room. "Hello?" called Sarah, "Mom? Dad?" They rounded the corner and found them sitting around.  
  
"Sarah!" said Liz as she got up to welcome her daughter.  
  
"Hey," she said, then to her dad, "I missed you all so much, you have no idea." They looked to the rest of the group, seeing the kids rocket off to their grandparents' arms, and noticed someone they didn't recognize.  
  
  
Sarah breathed in and out and did like they'd told her to. "Mom, Dad, this is Andrew. I met him when I was in Seattle and... we're... together, now." Max and Liz looked to each other. Finally, Max stepped forward.  
  
"It's good to meet you, I'm Sarah's father, as you may have guessed," he said, shaking the man's hand.  
  
  
"It's good to meet you too," he said slowly, putting his arm around Sarah's shoulders, attempting to make it look natural, "She's talked a lot about you." Andrew and Sarah both smiled quietly and kept their thoughts to themselves.  
  
  
The others went off to say hello to their parents and a few minutes later, all were sitting in the living room. "So how's everyone in Seattle?" asked Liz anxiously.  
  
"They're great... Zack and Jenna have changed... a lot. They still look very much like their parents," said Ricky.   
  
"What did you guys do all this time over there?" asked Alex. They all looked to each other.  
  
"Just... regular stuff," said Anna.  
  
"You know, talk, visit the city, that sort of thing," said Lisa.  
  
  
Later on, everyone had gone back to their respective homes. Max and Liz had gone to bed, which left Andrew and Sarah alone. She still wouldn't sit next to him when she had the choice to. She knew that it might hurt his feelings, but she couldn't help it. The two sat and watched television in silence.  
  
  
"Sarah?" he asked her slowly. She turned her head to him, sitting across the room.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Are you scared of me?" he asked. She blinked.  
  
"I..."  
  
"I wish I didn't make you feel this way. It's weird for me too and..." He looked down. Sarah observed him for a few seconds. She hesitated for a while, then finally stood and went to sit next to him.  
  
  
"I want to trust you, Andrew... I hope you understand why it's hard for me."  
  
"I do! I really do. I swear, I won't let you down, any of you. You've given me a new life and I'm very grateful. I don't want to screw this up." She smiled. He smiled too, slowly, still not quite used to it.  
  
  
"I have a question, though," said Sarah.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Those other X5s... What happened? Were they turned into..."  
  
"Someone like me?" Andrew finished. Sarah was quiet. "They didn't complete the task. They got them to stage one, made them think of the escaped ones as their enemies, but they didn't take it further... they dropped the project. So the remaining X5s became employees to Lydecker, and later me..."  
  
  
"But why didn't they try to escape? And what happens if they run into one of the escaped X5s one day? Will they attack?" asked Sarah.  
  
"They were too scared to run I guess... Over the years, the events of stage one faded away."  
  
"Oh."  
  
  
"So what do we do now?" she asked.  
  
"Well, if we're supposed to be... going out... I need to know some things about you, things that you would have told me... Your parents already think you've told me a lot about them, and I know nothing of their lives."  
  
"Um... good point... It might take a while, though," she said with a grin.  
  
"I'm not doing anything or going anywhere for a while..." he said, smiling as well.  



	15. Promises

Seattle, Washington, the day before  
  
The funeral had just ended. A lot of the employees from Jam Pony had been there, along with Maya's family. Zack and Jenna went to speak with her parents while their own waited behind. Maya's mother was glad that they'd come, that so many people had come. The shock hadn't quite sunk in that her daughter was gone. She was very grateful to Jenna for what she'd tried to do, even if she hadn't succeeded. She imagined the girl was just as sad as she was if not more.  
  
  
Zack and Jenna rejoined their parents as they walked off towards the car. Max took her daughter close to herself, sensing she needed the comfort.  
  
"I still can't believe she's gone," said Jenna, crying once more, "She wanted to meet Patrick and Shelby, Riley and Emily, and everyone else... She didn't even get a chance..."  
  
"I know..." said Max.  
  
  
Logan observed his son, walking next to him. He was taking it hard too, but attempting to hide it. Logan put his hand on his shoulder, and Zack turned, giving a weak smile. Logan knew what would probably happen next... He'd try to ignore what was going through his mind and try to concentrate on assignments with Eyes Only.  
  
  
That night, Jenna sat by the window again, looking up at the stars. She had barely slept in the last few days, too preoccupied to do so. This time was no difference. Max had gotten up to go get a glass of water when she noticed the girl, the one who looked so much like her, sitting there, lost in her thoughts.  
  
  
"Can't sleep, uh?" Jenna turned.  
  
"Did I wake you up?" she asked, concerned.  
  
"No, no, don't worry about it." Max sat next to her as Jenna looked down. "If you talk, I'll listen to you," said Max with a smile. Jenna looked back up, then out to the sky again.  
  
"I just wish I could have... I don't know... said goodbye or something..."  
  
  
"I know that feeling... all too well," said Max, "It happened rarely, but still it was too many times... I wish I could say it gets easier, but the truth is it doesn't. You just have to try to move on, no matter how hard it may seem. Get back to your life..."  
  
"I know... But there were so many things she didn't know... all these things I did..."  
  
"I know that one too," Max said with a smile, then, "I remember... the first one we lost..."  
  
*  
  
Manticore base, 2006  
  
Max sat on her bed. She looked around the room at all the other kids. Each had the same expression on their faces. They didn't understand what had happened that morning. They had noticed one of the other kids was getting weaker and weaker, but they had no idea why. And then that morning, he fell down before them... dead.  
  
  
It had been a major shock to all of them, but Max saw that Jondy was taking it harder somehow. She was smaller than the rest of them, even though she was the same age as the others, and they often found themselves taking care of her. There was no mistake, she was as good a soldier as any of them... only she had more trouble hiding her emotions.  
  
  
When they had all been sent to bed, Max waited until the guards left the room, and then she went to sit next to Jondy. "It's okay," she had told her, not sure she believed it herself.  
  
"Why did he go away, Max? Why?"  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
"We didn't even get to tell him goodbye..."  
  
"I know," said Max shakily.  
  
  
Jondy looked up at her, a tear on her face. "Max... Promise me something, okay?"  
  
"What is it?" Max said.  
  
"Promise me that you won't leave like he did... I don't want to lose you... Any of you," said Jondy, looking around at the children on their beds.  
  
"I promise."  
  
*  
  
Max finished her story, finding that she'd forgotten about that moment in a way. She looked ahead, lost in her thoughts.  
  
"Mom, are you okay?" Max turned to her.  
  
"I... I broke my promise..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Jenna... I need your help with something..."  
  
"Anything," she said, seriously. Max explained to her and they spoke for the rest of the night.  
  
THE END  



	16. *a word from the author...* (hehehe)

I'd put this fic in the Dark angel section, figuring that since there wasn't as much Roswell as in the first part, it would be better that way... but now I've changed my mind... but just so you know, the third part (yes, there will be one) will probably be Dark Angel only (you'll figure out why when you read it) so it will be in the DARK ANGEL section if you wanna look for it... ;)  



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